Jeff Zucker set to join CNN as head of global news operations

Former NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker is set to sign on as the new boss of CNN’s global news operations, The Post has learned.

Zucker, 47, has been the lead candidate for one of the most important roles inside Time Warner since boss Jeff Bewkes began looking for a new leader to reinvent the flagging flagship news network.

While some minor details still have to be worked out and may still scuttle the deal, sources warned, it appeared that an announcement concerning the hiring of Zucker could be forthcoming in a matter of days.

“It’s been Jeff all along,” one source said late yesterday. “It was not a good fit at NBCUniversal, and he made some enemies, but this is a chance for him to refresh. It’s really good for him.”

Zucker is currently executive producer of the daytime show, “Katie,” featuring Katie Couric, the telegenic former co-host of “Today,” which Zucker oversaw for nearly two decades.

Zucker’s “Katie” obligation runs only to the end of the year, sources said, though any new gig, such as the CNN job, could be complicated by his part ownership in the syndicated show, which is distributed by Disney.

Zucker would replace current CNN boss, Jim Walton, who is leaving at the end of the year.

Also considered for the role were former ABC News boss David Westin, and former NBC News chief Neal Shapiro. Current NBC News boss Steve Capus is said to have been a front-runner, as well.

Zucker began his career as one of the youngest news producers in the business. He ran “Today” back in 1992 and went on to have a wider role at NBC News before ultimately winning control of the entertainment division and later becoming CEO of NBCUniversal.

But after more than a decade of success, Zucker’s career at NBCUniversal ended harshly and his reputation as having a talent for picking hit shows, was sullied.

A return to TV as head of CNN would present Zucker with a chance to write a comeback story — and ding NBC at the same time.

The executive exited when Comcast acquired 49 percent of the company almost two years ago.

CNN is a huge profit center for Time Warner around the globe — and is poised to have its most profitable year ever — but its poor performance in prime time in the US market has made it a cause for frequent embarrassment.

Both Fox News and MSNBC have taken share over the years, though CNN has steadfastly stuck to its middle-of-the-road take on all things political.

The Post, like Fox, is owned by News Corp.

CNN’s ad-revenue growth over the last two years is roughly 12 percent — the smallest increase of any of its rivals, including younger sibling Headline News, which saw ad revenue grow 20 percent in the period.

CNN is part of Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting division, which is run by Phil Kent. Several sources suggest Kent has been under huge pressure to find the right candidate. Kent had been concerned that Zucker might ultimately have his eye on the much bigger role overseeing all of Time Warner’s ad-supported cable channels.

A spokesman for Time Warner couldn’t immediately be reached after hours. Zucker did not respond for comment.

The Post first reported Zucker as a contender for the position in June 2012.

The ratings for Q3 2012:

•Primetime (Mon-Sun): 616,000 Total Viewers / 188,000 A25-54

•Total Day (Mon-Sun): 388,000 Total Viewers / 118,000 A25-54

In Total Day, the network is down 18 percent in Total Viewers and down 25 percent in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic.

In primetime, CNN is down 9 percent in total viewers and down 14 percent in the same demographic.

catkinson@nypost.com

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Shareholders approve sale of U.S. Century Bank

A majority of U.S. Century Bank’s shareholders approved the Doral bank’s proposed sale to C1 Bank of St. Petersburg late Tuesday during a meeting at Florida International University despite dissension from some stockholders, including those who have filed suit against the bank and some of its directors and officers.

According to the terms of the deal, the bank’s 441 shareholders will receive $2.5 million from the sale, or about 1.7 cents on the dollar, from $150.1 million U.S. Century raised from multiple offerings since it was founded 10 years ago.

The sale agreement, which required approval from holders of 51 percent of the shares, still requires approval from federal banking regulators. Seventy-four shareholders attended Tuesday evening’s meeting.

The deal to sell U.S. Century to C1, reached Aug. 30, includes a proposed, renegotiated $6.27 million repayment to the federal government of $50.2 million in TARP funds. The U.S. Treasury Department must approve the proposed TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) repayment. According to documents, the deal also includes up to $400,000 to be paid by C1 to regulators should U.S. Century be fined over Bank Secrecy Act violations found in its recent regulatory examination.

The bank has said the sale is expected to be completed by year-end.

A group of shareholders has filed a “derivative action” suit, which seeks to recover money from the bank that allegedly resulted from the wrongdoing of the bank’s directors and officers.

The suit was filed Nov. 13 in Miami-Dade Circuit Court by brothers Carlos R. Silva and Jorge E. Silva, both Coral Gables attorneys and founding shareholders, and last week was amended to include several additional shareholders — including Shoma Group head Masoud Shojaee — totaling more than $10 million in original investments, said Coral Gables attorney Gonzalo Dorta who represents the shareholders who filed the suit against the bank and some of its current and former officers and directors. Among the defendants are Telemundo executive Jose Cancela, homebuilder Sergio Pino — who formerly owned U.S. Century’s headquarters building, and public affairs businessman and lobbyist Rodney Barreto.

“I feel terrible,” Carlos Silva said after the meeting. He estimated the losses that he and his brother sustained at $400,000. “We all lost a lot of money.”

“This bank was basically run by a group of individuals like it was their personal bank to finance their speculative real estate construction activity at the expense of others,” Dorta said before Tuesday’s meeting.

U.S. Century said in a statement that the bank is in the process of reviewing the suit and is “not at liberty to discuss it further until we have completed the review process and consulted with our legal counsel.”

U.S. Century was founded by a group of prominent, largely Cuban-American investors, many of whom are local business leaders, real estate developers and attorneys.

Among the issues raised in the lawsuit, the bank acknowledges that it has made loans to current and former directors, and a third of its 24 branches are leased from current or former directors.

Current and former directors of the bank hold a significant portion of the bank’s shares, several sources said.

U.S. Century has been struggling since the real estate downturn and recession. Founded in 2002, U.S. Century is operating under a June 2011 regulatory consent order mandating it to boost capital, reduce its bad loans and return to profitability, among other requirements. Last year, it hired Japanese investment bank Nomura Securities to try to raise at least $150 million in private equity funds.

C1, privately owned by four investors, including two Brazilians, is proposing to inject $100 million of fresh capital into the combined bank.

The deal would give the growing C1 Bank 24 branches in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and nearly $1.2 billion in assets.

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Rilya case prosecutor’s license revoked

One of the lead prosecutors in the Rilya Wilson murder trial is temporarily off the case after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office learned Monday that his Florida Bar license had lapsed..

Joshua Weintraub, who delivered the prosecution’s opening statement Monday, had his license revoked in August for failing to finish a required “continuing legal education” credit, according to the Bar website.

“Mr. Weintraub believed [the matter] had been resolved earlier this summer,” spokesman Ed Griffith said Monday. “Until he is reinstated by the Florida Bar, he will be suspended. We hope this matter is quickly resolved.”

Weintraub, a longtime prosecutor and Florida lawyer since 1990, and the office did not know of the lapse until a Miami Herald reader posted a comment about it on a web story about the case. He is trying the case with longtime prosecutor Sally Weintraub, his mother, and David Gilbert.

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$1,499 Gaming Laptop is Ready for Steam on Linux

Alternative, Linux-based operating systems like Ubuntu haven’t historically carried much weight with PC gamers. Very few PC games have been made for Linux, over the years, ever since the company that was porting AAA gaming titles to Linux (Loki Games) went bankrupt in 2001. And while it’s possible to use a “compatibility layer” such as Wine to run Windows PC games in Linux, the results are mixed at best and require a lot of technical tweaking, sometimes even in between updates.

Colorado-based indie PC hardware company System76, however, clearly expects that not only are there PC gamers on Linux out there, but that some of them are willing to pay $ 1,499 for a tricked-out gaming laptop — the 17.3-inch Bonobo Extreme. Like all of System76′s machines, it runs the Ubuntu flavor of Linux; and its actual price tag is $ 1,599, but it’s gotten a $ 100 discount for the holidays.

Is it ahead of its time, like the Loki Games ports? Or has the time come for a new age of Linux gaming? For whatever reason, Valve — the creators of the Steam social gaming service — seems to think the latter.

​The hardware

The 17.3-inch screen is full 1080p, with a 1920×1080 resolution. Pretty much every spec starts out at “high end” and maxes out at “over the top”; it comes standard with an Intel Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM and a 500 GB, 7200 RPM hard drive, with a second drive bay and the option to swap the DVD burner out for a third storage disk. All three have the option of going up to a 512 GB Crucial solid state disk, or a 480 GB Intel SSD.

Gaming graphics are powered by an nVidia GeForce GTX 670MX, with 3 GB of memory. An extra $ 340 will get you a GTX 680M with 4 GB of memory. All told, with every possible hardware upgrade the Bonobo Extreme maxes out at an “extreme” $ 4,333 … and the Alienware-style, multicolored light-up keyboard is included for free.

​But what about the games?

Valve’s Linux Steam client is currently in beta, with another 5,000 testers added over the Thanksgiving holiday. About two dozen games are already available for purchase, including Valve’s free-to-play multiplayer online shooter Team Fortress 2 and a selection of games from previous Humble Indie Bundles.

The HIB previously became famous not just for having nearly all of its games support Linux, but for posting public sales figures online, and showing that a good-sized chunk of each bundle’s sales were for Linux gamers. Efforts such as this helped to convince Valve that supporting Linux would be worthwhile … and also seem to have reached someone at System76.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Ryan Guzman 'Steps Up' to the Plate as Dancer

Ryan Guzman had some pretty hefty dance shoes to fill as the lead of Step Up Revolution. Without any formal dance training, the model and MMA fighter joined a cast of professional dancers, including many So You Think You Can Dance alums.

Producer Adam Shankman sure was fooled at the rookie actor's try-out. "We didn't know he was a non-dancer," he says blindsided. "He lied. He danced really well in the audition."

The rhythmic cast got the newbie up to speed in no time. "They're so open and inviting. They're willing to teach me and spread their art form," Ryan tells ETonline. "There was no lack of chemistry [with Kathryn McCormick]."

Newly minted People's Sexiest Man Alive Channing Tatum met his now-wife Jenna Dewan when they co-starred in the first Step Up film, but Ryan stuck to the scripted romance with Kathryn. In real-life, he's still single. Of his predecessor's honor, he acknowledges Channing is "a very sexy man. He's got good looks and I think People got it right."

VIDEO: Is Ryan Guzman The Next Big Actor?

Ryan would be open to bringing his own sexy back to the big screen if approached to star in 50 Shades of Grey. "I'd love to go after it," he admits. "I've seen the character description. I've read some of the book. It's definitely not really me, but that's what's fun about it. Get a little naughty, get a little dirty."

Step Up Revolution diverted off course from the battling featured in previous installments of the ever-growing franchise and instead focused on the flash mob dance craze that has gone viral as an internet sensation. The flash mobs in the film were used as protest art, showcasing the culture of a Miami community that might be torn down for a construction development project. "It was strange to coincide with the whole Occupy movement," Adam tells ETonline. "Made it relevant. Happy accident."

VIDEO: Inside Ryan Guzman's Birthday Bash

One thing that has stayed consistent throughout all Step Up films is they all promise and deliver elaborate dance numbers. "When you have dancers that are that talented and that precise, you don't need as [many takes]," Adam boasts. "They give it to you pretty much every time. The movie is extremely well rehearsed."

Both Ryan and Adam agree that the Step Up Revolution DVD and Blu-ray, out November 27, makes a great stocking stuffer and can be enjoyed with the entire family this holiday season. Watch an exclusive bonus clip above.

VIDEO: Ryan Guzman 'Steps Up' to Surprise Fans at Theater

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Queens baby in serious condition after traffic accident

A Queens baby was fighting for her life tonight after being tossed from the back seat of a minivan as it slammed into a car owned by a local driving school, relatives and cops said.

The child — wearing a pink snowsuit and wrapped in a blanket — was not in a car seat and flew into the front dashboard when the two cars collided near the intersection of 102nd Street and 91st Avenue in Woodhaven, witnesses said.

The child, identified by an aunt as 14-month old Gianna Gonzalez, was in serious condition at Long Island Jewish Hospital.

Gianna had been in the van with her grandmother and the driver, family friend Jose Santiago, 67, her relatives said.

“I heard the impact. I saw the baby on the ground, and the grandmother was shaking her and screaming in Spanish, `The baby! The baby!’ ” said witness Kim Minerva.

“The baby was limp. She wasn’t moving or crying. There was no car seat.”

Cops arrived, put the child in the back of a squad car and started CPR.

“They were working pretty hard on her, trying to keep her alive,” Minvera said.

Using their own car, police rushed little Gianna to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition. She was later transferred to North Shore LIJ.

Santiago’s green minivan had crashed into the side of a black Honda, owned by D & E Driving School, shortly before 2 p.m., officials said.

The impact shattered the smaller car’s passenger window and pinned driving instructor Jahirul Islam inside, according to bystanders.

Driving-school owner Injoy Islam, no relation to the driver, ran to the crash site.

“Once I saw the child did not have a [car] seat, I just knew the child had to be very injured,” Islam said. “Those injuries are very bad. We are just hoping the baby is OK. ”

It was not immediately clear who had the right of way.

“I had the green light,” said Jahirul Islam, who has been a certified New York state driving instructor for 23 years.

“I’ve never hit anybody. I’ve never had a speeding ticket or a ticket from running a red light. I’m a safe driver,” Islam said. “I just hope the baby is OK. They had no baby seat, no nothing.”

Santiago claims Islam ran the light.

“He ran the red light. He drove so slow through it, that’s why I didn’t think he was going to run it,” said Santiago. “If he was speeding, I would have stopped.

“I was just doing them a favor” by driving, Santiago said of his tiny passenger and her grandmother. “The baby was unconscious. I just want to know if the baby is OK.”

Sources said Islam passed a Breathalyzer test; it was unclear whether Santiago was tested.

Santiago was issued a summons for not having a child in a car seat.

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Shoppers welcome holiday sales by buying early, often — and online

Shoppers swooped into stores in droves on Thanksgiving weekend, topping last year’s sales, as more retailers opened their doors earlier than ever on Thursday, luring bargain hunters away from eating another plate of turkey.

And now Cyber Monday is expected to set a record for online shopping this year, for those who prefer the Internet to the mall.

Spending per shopper nationwide averaged $423 — $25 more than last year — from Thursday to Sunday, while total spending increased nearly 13 percent, to an estimated $59.1 billion, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.

“I think the only way to describe the Thanksgiving openings is to call it a huge win,” said Matthew Shay, the trade group’s president and chief executive. Shopping, he said, “has really become an extension of the day’s festivities.”

South Florida was no exception, as a flurry of stores, as well as several malls, opened on Thanksgiving. Thursday has seemingly become the new Black Thursday, taking a bite out of the old-fashioned kickoff day of the holiday, Black Friday.

“We had an excellent weekend,” said Humberto Maldonado, director of marketing for Dadeland Mall, which opened at midnight on Thursday. Sales figures are not yet in, but the overall trend was up from last year, he said Monday.

“It was really busy from midnight to 5 a.m., then it slowed, and picked up again at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m., and stayed busy all day on Friday,” Maldonado said.

Nationwide, about 35 million people visited stores and shopping websites Thursday, up from 29 million last year. More than double that number — 89 million, up from 86 million — shopped on Black Friday.

“There were more people shopping every single day of the weekend,” Shay said.

Topping off the weekend, Cyber Monday’s early results, tabulated at 3 p.m. Monday, showed that online shopping was up a whopping 25.6 percent compared with the same time period a year ago, according to figures by IBM Benchmark.

Nationwide, most of the weekend’s shoppers — roughly 58 percent — bought clothing and accessories. Another 38 percent bought electronics and 35 percent shelled out for toys, National Retail Federation figures show.

Retailers made an effort to lure people in, with updated mobile shopping applications for smartphones and tablets, and expanded shipping and layaway options.

Still, it remains to be seen whether increased sales over the Thanksgiving weekend will translate to higher sales throughout the holiday shopping season. Analysts have been predicting mediocre sales this year, nationwide, as shoppers remain uncertain about the broader economy. Overall holiday sales are expected to increase 4.1 percent from 2011, compared with sales growth of 5.6 percent last year, the National Retail Federation said.

However, Florida is expected to beat those figures. Buoyed in large part by tourists and snowbirds, the Florida Retail Federation is forecasting a 5.3 percent gain this year over last, to $58 billion, marking the highest percentage growth predicted since the recession. Pre-recession, retail sales peaked at $54.3 billion in 2006.

Christian Cutillo, 26, of Weston, hit Walmart, then Sears, Target and Old Navy after eating Thanksgiving dinner.

She began at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and by 3 a.m. Friday she had finished shopping for all 15 people on her list, mostly buying clothing and toys.

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More toll express lanes coming to South Florida

Motorists will find it more expensive to drive around South Florida roadways in coming years, as a new network of toll lanes takes shape.

The network would extend from Florida City in southernmost Miami-Dade County to Interstate 595 in central Broward, and from Interstate 75 in western Broward to Interstate 95 in east Broward.

“One of the main projects we foresee are the managed lanes project,” said Harold Desdunes, the Florida Department of Transportation’s district director of transportation development in Miami, using the formal designation for toll express lanes.

Ananth Prasad, FDOT’s secretary, announced the outlines of the project in 2011.

The toll lanes project builds on existing express lanes on I-95 in Miami-Dade that operate between just south of State Road 112 and the Golden Glades Interchange. The system now is being extended from the Golden Glades to Broward Boulevard.

But according to maps and other information provided by FDOT and other transportation officials at a recent meeting, express lanes may be added to several area roadways – including the South Miami-Dade Busway, the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike, the entire Palmetto Expressway, parts of I-75 and I-595. And the I-95 toll system now under construction eventually could reach Palm Beach County.

The wider scope of the express lane network recently became clearer when FDOT officials detailed the agency’s five-year work plan.

A central component of the Miami-Dade portion of the network is express lanes on the Palmetto Expressway from 836 to I-75, where they would link up with planned express lanes on I-75 to I-595.

There, the lanes would intersect with reversible toll express lanes now being built in the median of I-595 from I-75 east to I-95.

The I-75 planned express lanes also would be built in the median, said Judy Solaun-Gonzalez, senior project manager in Miami-Dade.

“The [826] express lanes would connect to the median of I-75,” said Solaun-Gonzalez. “And we would have a new bridge connecting Palmetto express lanes to I-75 express lanes.”

An FDOT map shows express lanes eventually running along the entire length of 826 from Dadeland in the south to the Golden Glades in the north.

Express lanes on the network would charge variable toll rates, depending on congestion.

At a public meeting Nov. 14 at Pinecrest Gardens, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) officials detailed their plan to add possible express lanes to the Busway, which runs parallel to U.S. 1.

MDX is conducting a study on possible alternatives to ease traffic congestion along the U.S. 1 corridor, one of which includes express lanes plus construction of overpasses or underpasses at intersections so Busway vehicles can bypass traffic lights.

The Busway plan has drawn criticism from some quarters in Pinecrest Gardens – though at the meeting, some people backed the idea of adding express lanes.

“This is a good idea,” said John Pell, who attended. “The east-west traffic will flow more quickly because currently it has to wait a long time for Busway and U.S. 1 traffic to clear the intersections.”

Pell said some residents oppose it because they don’t want commuters driving through.

Neighborhood leader Holly White said she is concerned that the new toll lanes would bring cut-through traffic into the surrounding neighborhoods.

“It could be very dangerous for our children and disruptive to our neighborhood,” she said.

More details on the I-75 express lanes project are expected to be discussed during three additional meetings in Broward:

Here is the schedule for the three meetings, which will be held in the board room of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) at the Trade Centre South Building, 100 W. Cypress Creek Rd., Suite 850, Fort Lauderdale:

• 2:15 p.m. Monday, the technical coordinating committee meets.

• 6 p.m. Tuesday, community roundtable.

• 9:30 a.m. Dec. 13, open debate among members of the MPO.

Miami Herald staff writer Ashley Lopez contributed to this report

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Nokia imaging chief to quit

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Nokia‘s long-time imaging chief Damian Dinning has decided to leave the loss-making cellphone maker at the end of this month, the company said in a statement.

The strong imaging capabilities of the new Lumia smartphone models are a key sales argument for the former market leader, which has been burning through cash while losing share in both high-end smartphones and cheaper handsets.

Nokia’s Chief Executive Stephen Elop has replaced most of the top management since he joined in late 2010 and Dinnig is the latest of several executives to leave.

Dinning did not want to move to Finland as part of the phonemakers’ effort to concentrate operations and will join Jaguar Land Rover to head innovations in the field of connected cars, he said on Nokia’s imaging fan site PureViewclub.com.

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki, editing by William Hardy)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Barbara Eden Mourns Death of I Dream of Jeannie Co Star Larry Hagman

"I still cannot completely express the shock and impact from the news that Larry Hagman has passed," grieved the TV veteran's I Dream of Jeannie co-star Barbara Eden.

Video: Larry Hagman Charms in Final ET Interview

Hagman's untimely death on Friday hit Eden especially hard, and in an open letter via Facebook the 78-year-old star mourned the loss of her dear friend and fellow icon.

As I received the news this evening and as you read this I still cannot completely express the shock and impact from the news that Larry Hagman has passed. I can still remember, that first day on Zuma Beach with him, in the frigid cold. From that day for five more years, Larry was the center of so many fun, wild, shocking… and in retrospect, memorable moments that will remain in my heart forever.

He was such a key element in my life for so long and even, years after I Dream of Jeannie; our paths crossed many times. Throughout various productions I had the pleasure of watching the Texas Tornado that was Larry Hagman. Amidst a whirlwind of big laughs, big smiles and unrestrained personality Larry was always, simply Larry. You couldn't fault him for it, it was just who he was. I am so thankful that this past year I was able to spend time with him and experience yet again ‘Larry’ in all his Big Texas bravado.

I, like many others believed he had beat Cancer and yet we are reminded that life is never guaranteed. My deepest condolences go out to his wife Maj, his son and daughter and his grandchildren, as well as his friends in this time of his passing. I can honestly say that we've lost not just a great actor, not just a television icon, but an element of pure Americana.

Goodbye Larry, there was no one like you before and there will never be anyone like you again.

-Barbara

Larry Hagman died Friday morning from complications stemming from his recent battle with cancer. He was 81.

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